CLEP Humanities : Poetry
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Example Questions
Example Question #61 : Poetry
The lengthy medieval poem The Canterbury Tales was written by __________.
Christopher Marlowe
Miguel de Cervantes
Geoffrey Chaucer
Dante Alighieri
William Shakespeare
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (1475) is written in a language known as "Middle English," which is distinctly different from the modern tongue; however, Chaucer's work is recognizable English and was the first widely read, successful work written in the English language. Chaucer's work is a large-scale narrative poem that follows a group of pilgrims who each tell tales while traveling to Canterbury Cathedral in England.
William Shakespeare was an English dramatist of the 16th and early 17th centuries, Christophe Marlowe was an English dramatist of the 16th century, Miguel de Cervantes was a Spanish novelist and poet of the 16th and 17th centuries, and Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet of the 13th and 14th centuries.
Example Question #62 : Poetry
Which of the following was an Old English poem discussing the Crucifixion of Jesus?
The Wretched Daeg
Beowulf
The Dream of the Rood
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The Way of Pain
The Dream of the Rood
The "Dream of the Rood" is a poem telling the story of the crucifixion of Jesus from the perspective of the very cross on which he was hung. The poem begins with a kind of mystical vision of the cross itself, presented as being bejeweled and majestic. Then, the cross itself tells the story of the crucifixion, presenting both Jesus and the cross as suffering together in the strife of the crucifixion. Finally, the poem ends with the poet's praise of the cross again. The word "rood" is related to modern English's "rod." It also can merely mean "crucifix." In old churches, you will sometimes see a wooden screen between the main body of the church and the sanctuary. It is topped with a cross and is called a "rood screen."
Example Question #63 : Poetry
The epic Beowulf is one of the earliest examples of literature from which country?
Russia
France
Germany
Italy
England
England
Beowulf, an epic story of a hero who shares his name with the poem, was originally written in Anglo-Saxon, the ancient forebear of modern English. The poem, written by an unknown author, is one of the earliest extant examples of English literature that survives today.
Example Question #64 : Poetry
What are the three parts of Dante's Divine Comedy?
Joy, Mirth, and Elation
Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Heaven, Hell, and Earth
Inferno, Terminus, and Heavenus
Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso
The Divine Comedy (1320) is about the travels of the author through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. The text is used also as a vehicle for explaining the soul's own ascent to God, culminating in the Beatific Vision. It is a "comedy" because of its style and overall plot structure, not because of any kind of humor in the contemporary sense of "comedy." Dante's work stands as testimony to the unified worldview of the Middle Ages, one that unabashedly draws upon ancient and medieval sources and likewise is quite ready to express judgments about various figures throughout history. Because it is a journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, its three titles are Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.
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